There are only a handful of top Irish players in the English Premier League. Seamus Coleman of Everton, a top premier league side, is the prime example.

English soccer has changed with the influx of foreign players to the Premiership.Promising Irish prospects, who once were only in competition with British players for roster spots, now find themselves having to contend with the best in the world.

The presence of foreign stars makes it a lot harder for new recruits from Ireland to make that breakthrough with British clubs.

Many of the players on the current Northern Irish and Irish Republic teams come from outside the Premier League altogether and are hopelessly off the pace when it comes to playing on the world stage.

Indeed, at present the two parts of Ireland would have a tough time fielding a team with Premier League only players.

It is a long way from the glory days when Roy Keane led Manchester United and Ireland and Paul McGrath was the best central defender in the world. For Northern Ireland they had the incomparable George Best, as good as Pele in his day, and Pat Jennings, one of the greatest ever goalkeepers.

You have to go further back for Northern Ireland’s glory days, but they reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 1982, defeating hosts Spain along the way.

There has been talk of one team over the years, but it all came to nothing, which is a shame given that there is no obvious reason why it should not take place.

The powers-that-be will sit out every future World Cup unless they agree an overall Irish team, something that has made perfect sense in other sports.